


I Can See The Stars From America

by matosuwa



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: "wet" dreams ahahahahaaa, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anime Conventions, Long-Distance Friendship, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Masturbation, Non-Binary Hange Zoë, Tumblr, american! erwin, cosplayer au, eruri - Freeform, french! levi, pansexual levi, tumblr friends au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:49:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2305400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matosuwa/pseuds/matosuwa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi is a 17-year-old cosplayer who wastes a lot of time on tumblr. His best friend, Petra, directs him to Erwin's page, and Levi swears he's never seen anyone more beautiful. How far is Boston from Paris again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> reeeaally digging this au okay. levi is basically me, and probably you, in this fic. pretty much everyone's a cosplayer, hange's non binary, petra is confused, levi is thristy and erwin is way too far away. my tumblr is matosuwa.tumblr.com btw!

 

 

Levi rubbed at his tired eyes before scrolling down his dashboard further. The half-drunk cup of lukewarm coffee sitting on his bedside table seemed way too far away to try and reach, and he was already situated in a spine-crippling yet cozy position. Outside, the sky was a blissfully gray notion of autumn. His backpack was tossed by the door in a crumpled heap and would stay that way until sunday night. 

 

_Thank fuck it’s Friday,_ Levi mused, cracking a few knuckles in his left hand. 

 

School was finally starting to kick his ass now that September was in full swing, all dregs of summer evaporating from the world. Which, in some ways, was a blessing. Levi hated not being able to wear black like he could in the colder months. Autumn was, decidely, his favorite season. 

 

He heard his mother clattering up the stairs and down the hallway towards his room. She knocked softly on his door, and Levi yelled out that she could come in. He pushed himself up against the headboard, not wanting a lecture on posture. 

 

Sabine Ackerman, a spitting image of Levi, entered his room. She stood at 5’1, a few inches short of her 17-year-old son, and kept her inky black hair cropped short in a delicate pixie. She had changed out of her work clothes and into a more formal red dress and strappy black heels. She glanced around Levi’s room, like she was checking for clutter that would never be found. Sabine sat on the edge of Levi’s bed and placed a gentle hand on his leg. Levi lowered the screen of his laptop, just to be safe. His dash was a _very_ unpredictable place.

 

“I’m going to Sylvie’s gallery opening, remember?” She asked him in soft-spoken French, “It’s in Paris, so I might spend the night at her place to avoid the traffic. 

 

Levi nodded. “That’s fine, maman.”

 

She raised her thin brows, “Weren’t you and Petra going to a movie tonight?”

 

Levi sighed, “Petra left school today with a stomach ache, so I doubt I’ll be seeing her. I’ll be fine at home.”

 

Sabine frowned but nodded, “Alright. I would hate for you to get sick, too. Be good tonight, _mon chouchou_.” She let her thumb sit on his cheek for a moment before getting up and smoothing out her dress.

 

“There’s left overs in the fridge, Levi.” Sabine told him, before exiting his room with out shutting the door. 

 

He heard her go down the stairs and clack through the kitchen. She shouted up a “good bye!” at him, and Levi yelled back a “be safe!” and she left.

 

Levi moved his laptop and rolled over onto his stomach, refreshing his dashboard once more. He reblogged a few photo sets of a manga he frequently read, then minimized his internet browser. He opened Skype and switched his status to ‘online,’ before sending Petra a quick message in English. He rarely spoke french with Petra, who was originally from Canada before she moved to northern France. 

 

levi: _you still sick?_

 

he waited a few moments before a notification alerted him that Petra was typing. 

 

petra: _sick as hell. don’t know what is it though._

 

levi: _suck too many dicks last night??_

 

Levi snorted a bit to himself, waiting for her to reply.

 

petra: _fuck you, 160!! you’re probably gonna spend all night jerking off now that we don’t have plans_

 

Levi smirked, replying with a simple “ _tru_.”  

 

petra: _shouldn’t you be working on cosplay? PSFM is coming up soon._

 

Levi groaned; she was right. Paris Manga & Sci-fi Show was happening in November, and Levi would be attending with Petra for the third consecutive year. They’re Sword Art Online costumes had been done since August but Levi still had his No.6 costume to finish. _Finish… start… same thing, really._

 

 

 levi: _people are probably gonna think we’re a couple again haha_

 

petra: _let them!! you can ward off all the creeps._

 

Levi sighed and smiled. Petra and him were cosplaying Asuna and Kirito for Saturday. It had been her idea, and Levi couldn’t deny the striking resemblance she had for the heroine. He went along with it, knowing that couple’s cosplay was always popular and received good feedback. There was always the assumption that the two were dating when the two best friends attended conventions together. However, Levi was pansexual with a heavy preference for men, while Petra was confused about sexuality but not straight in the slightest. 

 

Petra sent Levi a link to a tumblr post, which was a tutorial on painting craft foam weapons. He groaned, feeling too lazy to do anything productive. 

 

levi: _ugh, not tonight._

 

petra: _if i feel better tomorrow i’ll come over and help you!_

 

levi: _fineeee….._

 

Another link was sent by Petra.

 

petra: _speaking of fine…_  

 

Levi clicked the link, which directed him to another blog. This time, it was a cosplayer’s photo tag. Petra was right. This guy _was_ fine. _More_ than fine. Fine as _hell_.

 

Levi didn’t recognize the character this guy was cosplaying, but didn’t give a shit. He was too focused on those statuesque cheek bones and lightly lined eyes, covered with purple circle lenses. 

 

levi: _JESUS CHRIST… Who is he???_

 

Levi clicked back onto his blog, navigating to the man’s “about me” page. Levi felt his heart flutter as he was faced with another picture of the blogger, sans cosplay. He had blond hair and piercing blue eyes, topped off with a striking smile that brought out those high cheekbones that were legitament proof that there was a God in the universe. 

 

_Erwin, 21, cosplayer, neuroscientist major_

 

_hey, i’m erwin! i’ve been cosplaying since 2008. i also really like playing guitar and video games… are you bored yet?_

 

Levi smiled and bit his lip, going back to his cosplay tag and scrolling some more. He couldn’t believe someone this hot wasn’t famous. Levi quickly clicked the follow button, and wondered if Erwin was single or not. He wondered if Erwin was into guys or not. He wondered in Erwin lived close by, but he probably didn’t. Who ever this Erwin really was, he seemed to have a shit ton of followers. 

 

petra: _tell him u wanna hit it_

 

Levi laughed, and went to Erwin’s ask. He let his fingers hover over the keyboard and bit his lip again.

 

levi: _anon or not?_

 

petra: _omg… not, obviously._

 

Levi smirked, and quickly typed out a brief **“damn you’re so hot 10/10 would bang.”** and sent it, chuckling to himself and retyped the message out to Petra, so she could see how serious he was about this. He spent a few more minutes fucking around on Erwin’s blog before going back to his dash.

 

He nearly had a heart attack when he saw a little red notification hovering over ask. Levi clicked on it immediately, growing impatient as he waited for the page to load. 

 

A fanmail message was waiting for him, giving him the life story of a photographer named Gabby who wanted to attend college in New York, and needed him to go to her page and enter the link on her blog. 

 

“Fucking spam,” Levi groaned, feeling his heart sink. He hadn’t been expecting a reply from Erwin, he wasn’t _that_ pathetic. 

 

He talked back and forth with Petra for the majority of the night, wasting the night on tumblr. He went through his own blog, seeing that the selfie he’d posted on wednesday had reached 45 notes. 

 

His stomach growled and he glanced at the time on his computer. It was almost, and still needed to eat something. He nearly rolled out of bed and stumbled on his feet as the blood rushed to his head. Levi squeezed his eyes shut and steadied himself before trotting down the stairs. In the kitchen, he grabbed a plate of food that his mom had obviously put together for him, and he let a small smile pass his lips. After peeling off the saran wrap, he placed it in the microwave and set it for a minute and thirty seconds. 

 

After going to the bathroom and washing his hands with raspberry scented handsoap, he grabbed the warm plate out of the microwave and a fork from the silverware drawer. He took his dinner back upstairs and settled down on his bed again. 

 

He had to wake up his Mac book, which had fallen asleep while he was gone. His tumblr had 100+ posts waiting for him, and he took a bite of food before hitting the home button to refresh. Levi saw that he had another message. He chewed slowly and entered his ask box. He let his eyes register for a moment, and nearly choked on his food. 

 

Erwin’s icon and url were sitting inside his ask, replying to his embarrassingly forward message.

 

**“thank you ahaha, you’re really cute too! nice to meet you, levi.”**

 

Levi’s eyes were wide and he swallowed. He quickly clicked on Skype and messaged Petra. 

 

levi: _HOLY FUCK PETRA HE REPLIED._


	2. Let's Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi is pretty shocked that Erwin is actually acknowledging him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made a pun about this chapter in the tags ;)

levi: _HOLY FUCK PETRA HE REPLIED._

 

Petra was typing back a second later.

 

petra: _LIKE, PRIVATELY?? WHAT THE HELL DID HE SAY?_

 

levi: _YES PRIVATELY. AND HE SAID THAT I’M CUTE AND HE REFERRED TO ME AS LEVI_

 

petra: _omg first name basis you go_

 

levi: _THIS IS SERIOUS SHIT._

 

Levi balanced his dinner plate onto his stomach and went back to Erwin’s blog. He instantly realized that Erwin had just answered a slew of asks, _publically._ Levi flushed.

 

He went to Erwin’s ask again. He hesitated. How does he reply to that?!

 

**“Oh god, I didn’t think you were going to reply… Ahaha, thanks for calling me cute btw.”** Levi read it over once and then sent it, grimacing at his awkwardness. 

 

He waited a few more minutes before he received Erwin’s reply. **“my pleasure. i really like you’re kirito cosplay, btw. going to any east coast conventions??”**

 

Levi blinked a few times. _What. The. Fuck._

 

Levi’s hands shook as he typed into Erwin’s ask. **“Oh, so you’re American? And I live in France, so most likely not anytime soon.”**

 

Levi finished off his dinner and got up to go shower. He passed by the spare room on his way to the upstairs bathroom and caught a glimpse of his unfinished Nezumi cosplay. He clicked his tongue, and began to tug off his t-shirt. He flicked on the bathroom light and tossed his shirt into the empty clothes hamper that sat next the sink. He untied the waistband of his sweat pants and yanked them down, along with his boxers. He turned and put the shower on, waiting for the water to heat up. 

 

He surveyed himself in the large mirror as steam filled the room. His skin had already lost it’s light touch of color from vacationing in Provence for a week. His skin, pale as ever, was a sharp contrast to his deep black hair. His undercut was growing out and looked shaggy and unwashed. His slate-grey eyes were the slightest bit bloodshot, framed by his mother’s sparce brows. And he was skinny. Oh, so skinny. His arms were slightly toned from his part time job, a shopkeeper’s apprentice. His legs were short and slim, hipbones just underneath the skin, unprotected by fat nor muscle. Truly, if Erwin saw him like this, _cute_ would not be the first impression. 

 

He let his hand test the shower, and he scalded it promptly. “Fuck!” Levi shrieked, turning the tap towards the cool side. He shook his hand, watching the reddended flesh slowly turning back to white. He tried the water once more, and finally climbed in. 

 

As he scrubbed his hair down with shampoo, his thoughts wandered. He thought about PMSF, and wondered if anyone of his followers would find him there. The gulped when he remembered all the things he had to finish for Nezumi. He should really do a makeup test soon, too. Erwin’s makeup looked so good in all of his pictures. No.. Erwin looked good in all his pictures period. He wondered what Erwin looked like shirtless, or what it would be like if Erwin was in the shower with him, hands resting on Levi’s slight hips, breathing against the side of his neck and gyrating their hips against one another. 

 

Levi’s face grew hot, and his eyes snapped open. He turned the water on cold and tried to rinse away all the dirty thoughts of Erwin pressing him up against the tiled wall and working him open with two- no three- thick fingers, biting down onto his ear and whispering filthy things to him in a husky voice made up by Levi’s imagination. 

 

“Fuck,” Levi hissed, realizing that the cold water was doing absolutely nothing to stop him from getting hard. 

 

Levi’s hands scrambled to heat up the water again, and began to rinse out the remainders of shampoo. He closed his eyes again, and let his mind carry the scenario with Erwin even further. 

 

Levi’s right hand trailed down his stomach as he pictured Erwin turning Levi to face him, picking him up by the ass and letting Levi lock his legs around Erwin’s waist. Erwin’s blonde hair hung dripping wet over those deep blue eyes, mouth a firm line. A large hand cupped the back of Levi’s head before crushing their mouths together, tongues delving away at each other. Erwin caught Levi’s lip between his teeth, before pulling away. He snuck a finger into Levi’s mouth, groaning in a rumbling baritone before lining up his impressively large cock against his well-stretched hole. 

 

Levi keened as his own hand squeezed around his dick, mouth falling open in a silent moan as he stroked himself faster, water running over his face. Erwin would be rough with him, hands gripping Levi’s slight waist and pulling him down all the way on his throbbing cock. Erwin would rotate his hips agonizingly slow, working his cock impossibly deeper inside Levi. 

 

“God, Erwin…” Levi whispered, hand working faster. He let his thumb tease over the head, and openly whimpered, thinking about Erwin holding Levi’s hips completely still and fucking upwards into Levi’s body, pressing Levi against the wall with his own strong body. Erwin left bruising bite marks all along Levi’s neck as he tossed his head backwards, eyes screwed shut. 

 

Erwin would let his tonuge lazily trace the hickies, his hips picking up the pace and subsequently carrying Levi over the edge. Just as Levi hit his high, he imagine Erwin slamming into him once more, before moaning in his ear, letting all of his cum fill up the narrow space in Levi’s ass. 

 

As Levi came down from his orgasm, he imagined Erwin pulling out and gently lowering Levi to his feet, pulling him towards his chest and holding him there, whispering sweet shit into his ear. 

 

God, Levi was so screwed. 

 

Levi rinsed off his cum-slick hand under the stream of water and proceeded to continue his shower, washing his body twice to erase the dirty feeling that seemed to cover his skin. 

He turned off the water and dried himself off with a fluffy white towel, securing it around his waist before padding back towards his room. He pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and a loose fitting t-shirt before flopping down onto his bed, letting the towel hang around his neck and catch all the loose drops of water falling from his damp hair. 

 

He had another message from Erwin. 

 

“ **No way, I take french! By the way, what’s your Skype? Mine’s the same as my url.”**

 

Levi blinked a few more times. Holy fuck. 

 

Sure enough, he found Erwin on Skype and sent him a contact request. Nearly thirty seconds later, a message from Erwin popped up. 

 

Erwin: _Hey, levi!_

 

levi: _hey yourself._

 

Levi swallowed as he saw Erwin typing back a reply. Was this even happening?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment + kuods?????


	3. Too Good To Be True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi doesn't understand how Erwin is so cute. He also branches out a little more on the internet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm seriously sooooo happy about the amazing feedback this fic has gotten since i posted it yesterday!! thank you so much for all your comments and kudos. Also, credits for Hange's url go to my fellow meme aichurro.tumblr.com (casey) This is kind of a long chapter, by the way.

Levi woke up on his stomach, laptop still poised and open in front of him with a black screen. Levi cracked open an eye and glanced to the right to see that the sun was up, but it was still early enough that the sky held pink and orange remnants of the sunrise. Levi raised his head, and immediately felt the consequences of typing while lying on his chest for three hours straight. 

 

Slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position and let his head hang forwards, trying to relieve the tension at the back of his neck. He rolled his neck to the left and then the right, feeling a deliciously abrupt pop on the right side of his neck. It was still sore, but felt less tightly-coiled, which was good enough for Levi. 

 

He reached for his phone which had been charging for the last ten hours on his bedside table. He rubbed a hand over his face and pressed the home button and removed the charger from the bottom slot. Four messages from Petra and his mom, and a few instagram notifications greeted him. It was 8:25. Way too fucking early for a Saturday.

 

But Levi had been awake too long to go back to sleep. His blood was already pumping through his body at a faster, stronger pace, and he felt too hot in his flannel pajama bottoms and t-shirt, cocooned in his comforter. He flailed his way out of the thick bedding in a dramatically ungraceful flourish and read through his messages.

 

One was from his mom, telling him that she’d be home around noon. The other three were from Petra, all extremely new. 

 

Petra: Levi, I’ll come over at 9:30 to help you with Nezumi

Petra: Is that too early???

Petra: oh shit did I wake u up??? sorry!

 

Levi scoffed and began to reply. 

 

Levi: nah, you’re fine. 9:30 sounds good. did you eat breakfast already?

 

Petra: no, but if you make me a coffee i’ll buy some donuts.

Levi: deal.

 

Levi quickly remembered everything about last night come rushing back. Everything about last night meaning that he stayed up until 3 am talking to Erwin, the extremely fucking hot 21-year-old neuroscience major at fucking HARVARD who cosplayed and looked fine as hell while doing it. Levi clicked on his lap top, just to prove it to himself that yes, that did actually happen.

 

His Skype had 2 messages waiting. Both from Erwin. 

 

Levi had last replied with “i’m fucking exhausted, i’m about to fall asleep.”

 

Levi’s skin felt electric as he read Erwin’s last two messages.

 

Erwin: _shit, sorry i forgot about the time difference._

Erwin: _sleep well! really happy we started talking btw!_

 

Levi let himself flop backwards onto his bed, covering his face with a pillow and yelling out a muffled “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.”

 

Levi felt as if he’d somehow fallen into a cruelly manipulative fifth dimension where hot older men actually enjoyed talking to him and thought that he was _cute._

 

Feeling dehydrated after not drinking water in a day and gross from sleeping with wet hair, Levi peeled himself out of bed and into the bathroom. He took his pill, which his mother liked to call his “joie pilule” but was really a light antidepressant that he’d been using since grade eight. He brushed his teeth and stripped off his slightly damp t-shirt. He splashed some cold water onto his face and patted it dry with a hand towel that needed to be changed. Levi flung it into the hamper and retrieved a new one from the linen closet just outside in the hall. He grabbed a fresh pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt from his room and redressed. 

 

He trudged downstairs and got himself a glass of water before flicking on the tv and setting it to the news channel. After four minutes of national news that went from reporting the crumbling state of the world and all the conflicts in it to a cheerful story about a new gorilla being born at the Paris zoo, Levi had had enough. He switched to a sitcom that was originally from England but had been dubbed over with French voices. Then to MTV, where another installment of Cat Fish was running. 

 

Levi paused. _What if Erwin was cat fishing him?_

 

It was a stupid thing to think, but the show’s realism paranoid Levi. 

 

Erwin posted enough pictures of himself to seem real, but _still_. He was all too perfect, far to polished. Levi frowned and watched the remainder of the episode, feeling himself growing more and more hungry and mind-willing Petra to show up fifteen minutes early with those damn donuts she’d promised. 

 

He remembered her coffee and got up off of the couch quickly and started the machine. He ignored the French Press, knowing that he lacked the patience to even try with that. He popped a Vanilla Coffee K-Cup into the proper slot and popped the lid shut. He idly pressed the “brew” button before wandering over to the refrigerator. He opened it and found some eggs, milk, slices of melon that were starting to smell just a little bit off, and yogurt. The bottom shelves had all the cheese, meat, and vegetables that called for actual preparation. Levi grabbed a yogurt for himself and peeled off the lid, licking the excess off the thin foil. He rummaged around in the drawer for a small spoon and sat at the counter, eating in silence.

_What time was it in Boston?_ Levi though, sucking on the spoon before loading more yogurt onto it. It was nine-fifteen now. So, around 3 am there? Maybe?

 

 

The doorbell rang three times, tearing him off of his train of thought. He hopped off the counter and opened the door. Petra stood at the door, holding a box of donuts under left arm and a messenger bag slung over her right shoulder. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, bangs falling over her forehead. She was wearing an anime hoodie purchased on line that Levi had seen a few times before. Petra also had her field-hockey skirt on, athletic socks pulled up around her slim calves, team jacket tied around her waist. Her bike was leaning up against the house’s white picket fence, locked to the mail box.

 

Levi stuck his tongue out at her, “Hey.”

 

“Hey,” She said, out of breath. She glanced up and saw the yogurt in his hand. “Couldn’t wait, hmm?”

 

Levi spooned another glob into his mouth and shook his head, “Nope. I still made coffee though.”

 

She broke out into a smile and stepped inside, kicking off her nike sandals. She walked ahead of him, placing the box down onto the kitchen counter and flipping open the pink, cardboard lid. Levi leaned against the counter on his elbows, across from Petra.

 

“Did you have a game today or something?” Levi asked, sliding the mug of black coffee towards her. She gratefully accepted it, wrapping her chilly hands around the warm cup and inhaled the sharp scent. 

 

“Yeah,” She said, “It was a close one.”

 

“Who won?” Levi asked, grabbing a chocolate covered. 

 

Petra grinned, “We did, obviously.”

 

Levi smirked and rolled his eyes, “Funny. I only asked ‘cause I assumed you lost.”

 

Petra lifted the mug to her lips and proceeded to flip him off with her free hand. 

 

Petra licked the coffee off of her lips and sighed. “So. Erwin.” 

 

Levi paused mid-bite and lowered the donut away from his lips. “Yeah. Erwin.”

 

“I hope you know that I fucking hate you and you’ll owe me forever for this,” Petra gloated, taking a bite of her jelly-filled. 

 

Levi snorted, “Yeah, yeah. I got his Skype.”

 

Petra’s eyes widened, “Shut up! Really?” 

 

Levi nodded, oozing pride. “Uh-huh. Stayed up until 3 talking to him.” 

 

Petra pushed her strawberry-blonde bangs away from her eyes. “And…?”

 

Levi tried to fight down the embarrassing grin ebbing away at his lips. “For one, he’s smart as fuck. He’s at Harvard right now. Second, he speaks French. Third, he says he’s glad we started talking.”

 

Petra groaned and let her head fall forwards, “Fuck. I should have saved him for myself.” 

 

Levi chuckled, “So you _are_ into guys!”

 

Petra dipped her fingers into her mug and flicked a little coffee at Levi. She rose her head up from the counter with flushed cheeks. “I don’t know what I’m into, but that man definitely transcends the boundaries of any sexuality.”

 

Levi took a bite of donut, “True fucking shit.” 

 

* * *

 

 

Petra was seated on the guest bedroom’s floor, sewing machine plugged into the wall before her. The hardwood floors were covered in scraps of black fabric. Levi sat on the tufted chaise, an antique passed down in the family apparently, and worked on stubbing his black wig in order to clip on the ponytail piece. 

 

It was almost 11 am, and so far, the two had accomplished more for this cosplay in the last two hours than Levi had in the last two months. The scarf was done and waiting to be tied in the back, and the pants were ironed out and folded nicely. 

 

“Should I ask Erwin to video chat with me?” Levi asked aloud, hands paused over the wighead. 

 

Petra stopped sewing and tucked her bangs behind her ear. She was holding a pin between her teeth and Levi grimaced. 

 

“Isn’t that pretty sudden?” She asked asked and dropped the pin into her palm. 

 

Levi glanced off to the side, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” 

 

“I mean, I would wait until you two have something to actually talk about before talking face to face.” Petra said and started up the sewing machine again. 

 

Levi sighed and went back to work, knowing Petra was right and he hated her for that. 

 

“Do you have lenses for this one?” Petra asked over the hum of the sewing machine. 

 

Levi paused and did a mental inventory of his collection of circle lenses. “I don’t think so.”

 

“I have some that would be really good for Nezumi, so.” Petra told him, nimble hands quickly changing the direction of the fabric under the fast needle.

 

Levi make a gagging noise. “I’m not swapping lenses with you, Ral. I don’t want eye cancer.”

 

Petra frowned and shot him a look. “You can’t get eye cancer from swapping lenses.”

 

Levi secured the stub in the wig and turned the wig head around on it’s stand. “Maybe not eye _cancer,_ but I’d probably contract some weird Canadian eye disease from you.”

 

“Ha ha.” Petra murmured, “Are you ever gonna come back to Canada with me? I think you’d actually like it.”

 

Levi sighed and attached the ponytail to his wig. “Oh boy, then people will _really_ start to think we’re dating. I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of commitment, Ral.” 

 

“What if we got a connecting flight in Boston?” Petra teased, “You could see your _cheire_.”

 

Levi’s skin buzzed at the mere idea. “You have to give me time to like… fuckin’ make him fall head over ass in love with me first, Petra.” He joked, “I’m getting a lot of pressure from you right now and honestly I don’t like it.” 

 

Petra cackled from the floor and pulled the finished half of the jacket out from the machine. 

 

“Let’s focus on getting to PMFS first,” Levi added, finally pleased with his wig work.

 

Petra held up her handiwork, “Agreed,” She mused with a critical look in her eye.

 

 

Petra spent most of Saturday at the Ackerman’s, lying around in Levi’s room and watching Netflix (which was finally in France, thank God.) Levi joined her as they sat up against the headboard, eating the left over donuts from that morning, marathoning _House_. They’d basically finished Nezumi by 2 pm, a short while after Sabine had come home. 

 

Just as House and his team had finally come up with a perfect cure for their patient’s ailment (which obviously wouldn’t work- the episode still had 30 more minutes) a Skype notification sent Levi bolting upright. 

 

Petra licked some powdered sugar off of her thumb, “Is that Erwin?” She asked, automatically interested. 

 

Levi paused the episode and clicked on Skype. He swallowed dryly. “Yeah.”

 

Erwin: _Hey, finish that costume yet?_

 

Levi bit his lip to stifle a grin. 

 

Levi: _yeah, it was a piece of cake._

 

Petra smacked his arm, “You fucker, I’m the one who-“

 

Erwin: _thats great!! i’m gonna want to see pictures once it’s all together_

 

“I’m gonna wanna see pictures of his naked body,” Petra muttered under her breath. Levi had to hang his head to keep from laughing too loudly. Tremors shook his body as he silently laughed for a good minute at the thought of Erwin trying to pose for nudes. 

 

He pushed Petra’s head away and she did the same to him, mushing his hair over the side of his face. 

 

Levi: _yeah, i’ll send some to you once i have it all together._

 

Erwin: _looking forward to it. also, do i have the time difference thing alright? it isn’t some ungodly hour there is it?_

 

Levi chuckled and shook his hair back into place and Petra starting going through her phone. 

 

Levi: _no, you’re fine. what time is it in boston?_

 

Erwin: _almost 9 pm_

 

Levi: _Oh, okay._

 

Levi paused before typing a new message. 

 

Levi: _Hey, wait can I ask you something?_

 

Erwin: _Of course_

 

Levi: _Are you cat fishing me???_

 

Levi blushed scarlet as Petra leaned over his shoulder to watch him type.

 

“You didn’t…” Petra trailed off, “Are you fucking serious, Levi?”

 

Levi shut his laptop and scrambled over to the other side of the room. “Go away!” Levi yelled, throwing a box of tissues towards the bed. Petra smacked it down with her hand and shrugged. 

 

He slid down the adjacent wall and peered down at his screen. He imagined Erwin over at Harvard in some stately dorm room, laughing his ass off as he read Levi’s message.

 

Erwin: _Haha, no. I wouldn’t do something like that to you. Why do you ask?_

 

Levi gulped and bit his lip. 

 

Levi: _I don’t know, just making sure._

 

Erwin: _Do you want some sort of proof?_

Levi: _Like what???_

 

Erwin: _Like my phone number or something_?

 

Levi yelped out a garbled laugh.

 

“Petra! Please, please kill me right now.” He cried and buried his face in his hands.

 

Petra hopped off the bed and ambled over to her best friend. “What happened?”

 

Levi make a drawn out, withering noise. “He’s too fucking perfect to be real.”

 

Petra laughed and peered at the lap top screen. Her mouth fell open the slightest bit. 

 

“Shit, okay. I might have to.” She giggled.

 

Levi quickly typed back a message. 

 

Levi: _What’s the point in that? Unless you have international calling._

 

Erwin: _Oh damn, right. Guess we have to stick to Skype._

 

Levi: _Guess so._.

 

Erwin: _Hey, I gotta go! astronomy club is meeting tonight_

 

“Petra,” Levi murmured, “This fucking loser is in an _astronomy_ club.”

 

Petra reached over Levi to try and grope at his lap top, “Really? What sign is he?”

 

Levi groaned and pushed her away, “Ass-tron-o-mee. Not ass-trol-o-gee.”

 

Petra frowned. “Oh. Well, I still wanna know what sign he is. Just to make sure you two are compatible and all~”

 

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Levi mumbled. Truthfully, he hoped that Erwin and him _were_ compatible. But he’d never let Petra know that he actually believed in that shit.

 

———

 

Saturday ended with Levi and Petra doing a quick test of the Nezumi costume, and then her leaving. Levi lazed about on the couch with his mom for a bit, reading junky tabloids that used to many “trendy” word abbreviations and over exclamated the mundane outings of celebrities. Sabine had her feet up on the coffee table and would point out interesting stories to Levi, who would do the same from his magazine. 

 

Levi couldn’t help but excessively check his newly-downloaded Skype app, wondering what Erwin was up to. He checked the time and concluded that it was 1 am in Boston, so Erwin probably wouldn’t have time to chat while sleeping. 

 

He stayed up until 2, cramming in as much House as possible before falling asleep, dreaming about a red-brick University with wigs of every color strewn across the immaculate grounds. Sunday morning, he woke up blissfully later than usual, cutting it close to midday. Sabine was out for lunch with clients, and Levi had the house to himself once again. 

 

 

Although he received an amazing dose of freedom from being home alone, Levi had no idea how to deal with the power of having the house all to himself. He ran and slid on his socks on the hardwood floor of the upstairs hall for a bit, but slowly began to bore himself. 

 

He went on tumblr and made a quick post about going to PMSF and how he wanted to meet some of his followers if they were going to be there. He let tumblr stay open on his dash, and in a surprisingly powerful rush of motivation, he picked up his backpack and pulled out some homework.

 

After making a subsequent dent in his work load, Levi checked his dashboard once more. A message was waiting for him to read.

 

gendersforlosers, a url he’d seen a few times in his activity and notes, had sent him a message.

 

**“Hey, just letting you know that I’ll be going to PMSF too!! We should totally meet up. What are you cosplaying for friday??”**

 

Levi was fast to reply, telling the blogger about his Nezumi costume and how his friend Petra would be joining. Levi clicked onto the url, just to make sure that tumblr user genderisforlosers wasn’t a registered sex offender or murderer planning on killing him in a dark alley once they met up at the convention. Safety first, kids. 

 

Hange, 17, nonbinary

95% sports anime, 5% megane, 0% straight

(they/them pronouns please!)

 

Levi scrolled over to their links, finding a few pictures of a League of Legends cosplay, a few from a volleyball anime he’d never gotten around to watching, and a couple more from Hetalia. It seemed like there was enough evidence here that Hange wasn’t a suspicious internet predator, looking for vulnerable teenagers to prey on. In fact, Hange seemed actually pretty cool. In a very loud, but somehow endearing, sort of way. 

 

Before sending his reply, he added on a **“Who are you cosplaying?”** to his message and sent it on it’s way. 

 

Hange replied at a flatteringly fast pace, gushing about their Black Butler cosplay that had taken _hours and hours and hours_ for them to make. They also mentioned a toss up between Rei from Free! and Sokka from Avatar. Levi replied, telling them about how he’d just finished Nezumi, and how he would also be doing SAO with Petra. 

The two exchanged Skypes, just so they could talk more closer to the actual convention. 

 

Levi flopped backwards onto the bed, yawning loudly. He realized that he hadn’t been outside since Friday, and he began to laugh at his weekend-long indoors streak. He nudged his backpack off of the bed with his foot and shut his eyes, ready for a nap.

 

Just as he began to filter in between dozing and sleeping, his phone made the tell tale Skype sound. His arms felt like lead as he searched around the bedcovers for his phone. He held it up to his face and let his eyes adjust, realizing that Erwin had sent him a message. 

 

Erwin: _hey!_

 

A grin spread across Levi’s face, and he quickly began typing back.

 

Levi: _Hey, what’s up?_

 

From two to six, Erwin somehow managed to carry on a conversation with Levi. Erwin was surprisingly funny, in a simple and light hearted sort of way. From the looks of the conversation, he was also continuously scandalized by Levi’s brash sense of humor and colorful language. 

 

They didn’t even talk about anything in particular. They pretty much went from talking about shows they watched to sending links to various tumblr posts back and forth, and then to talking about things that were going on in their lives at the moment. Erwin seemed busy with classes and cosplay and a weekend internship, while Levi was embarrassed to admit that he didn’t really do extracurricular shit. It was weird, really, talking with Erwin and learning obscure little things about him like how his parents had a canoe, just one; or that he had a second cousin attending Harvard with him. 

 

Erwin was fascinated enough with how close Levi lived to Paris. Countless questions about how many times he’d been to the city, if he’d been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, what the food was like, if the locals were snobby, and if the city was really as dirty as people said it was (Levi went more than twice a month, yes he had, the food was good depending on where you went, some of them, and in some areas it was).

 

Levi: _Why are you taking French?_

Erwin: _I started in High School, mainly because I liked the way it sounded._

Levi: _That’s what everyone says. Is that really you’re reason?_

Erwin: _Ha, is that not a good enough reason for you?_

Levi: _I suppose it’s fine, but it’s boring as fuck._

 

Levi switched positions on the bed, feeling his leg falling asleep.

 

Erwin: _What about you? why do you speak english so well?_

 

Levi paused. Did he like Erwin enough that he should muster an explanation? _Yes._

 

Levi: _My dad was American, taught it to me before he left when I was 5. Pretty helpful thing to leave me with, tho._

 

Erwin was a bit slower on his reply this time around, probably trying to walk on eggshells over the new bit of information.

 

Erwin: _Ah, shit sorry. I didn't mean to pry like that._

 

Levi groaned. _Damn it tragic backstory for making things awkward._

 

Levi: _Nah, nah it’s totally fine. tbh I think I use English more than French_

 

Erwin: _How’s that?_

 

Levi: _My best friend’s from Canada and her French is too formal sounding. Plus, most of tumblr is in English._

 

Erwin: _Ohh, that’s true. It’s really all English for you though? The internet doesn’t translate it for your browser?_

 

_He goes to Harvard._ Levi thought to himself. _Is he just trying to be cute?_

 

Levi: _Haha, no it doesn’t. Surprised you didn’t know that, Mr. Ivy-League._

 

Erwin: _I’m a neuroscientist!!_

Erwin: _not yet, but i will be i mean._

 

Levi: _what do you have to do to be a neuroscientist anyways?_

 

Erwin: _Mind reading, obviously. A little bit of telekinesis here and there. Nothing too challenging._

 

Levi shut the laptop and sighed into his palms. 

 

God, he was _so_ screwed.

 


	4. speckled, stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> meehhhhhhhh this is a short filler chapter, sorryyyyy. i've been lacking motivation for this now that school is, and i quote my own fic, kicking my ass.

October scraped by, dragging Levi in tow. He and Petra were going over the details of their convention weekend with a fine-toothed comb, pressing out all the small kinks or questions. Levi had organized the much-awaited 3-day haven down into a budge-proof schedule. He had typed it up during a study hall, checking it over once, and then twice. 

 

He had color coded it, printed it out into 3 separate copies, (1 for Petra, 2 for him just in case a copy went missing) and slid the schedule into a manilla folder. As he and Petra walked to school, he handed it to her wordlessly. 

 

It was a chilly Wednesday morning, the skies overcast in a pleasant way. Petra had layered thick back tights under her school skirt and gray-wool socks to block out the cool weather. Levi tugged his blazer closer to his body, hunching his shoulders against the sharp wind. 

Petra’s eyes flicked over Levi’s Master Convention Schedule. 

 

Wednesday, November 5th:

Cosplay packing and inventory

 

Thursday, November 6th:

Pack things into car, go over check lists 

 

Friday, November 7th:

(3:45 pm) Leave school

(4:15 pm) Arrive at hotel, check in

(5:30 pm) Unpack, start getting changed

(6:35 pm) Pre-reg line 

(????) Leave pre-reg line 

(9:30pm-12:30) Panels and misc. 

 

Saturday, November 8th:

(8:40 am) Wake up 

(8:45 am) Eat breakfast 

(9:05 am) Get into SAO

(10:10 am) photo shoot

(11:30 am) Meet up with Hange

(11:40 am-1:00 pm) Artist alley, dealers room…

 

 

Petra kept scanning, down the remainder of the schedule. With her phone, she snapped a picture of the schedule. She smiled and swung her messenger bag forwards, unzipping it and fitting the slim folder inside. “Sounds like you got everything figured out, Levi.”

 

“Yeah, I know.” Levi murmured, “I’m just worried that we’ll be in pre-reg for too long. That could seriously fuck up the plan.”

 

Petra sighed, “Friday isn’t a crucial day, though. We don’t really have any important events or anything, right?” Petra thought for a moment, zooming in on the picture she’d taken. “And hey, what about food and bathroom breaks?”

 

Levi held up his copy, pointing at the bottom of Friday’s schedule. “And _misc_.” He ennunciated. 

 

Petra clicked her tongue, “Let’s see how well that works out. Also, who’s Hange?”

 

Realization struck Levi. Hand’t he mentioned to Petra about Hange? Or did he just mentioned Petra _to_ Hange…?

 

“Someone from tumblr. They messaged me about wanting to meet up, so I guess we should.” Levi explained.

 

Petra nodded, “Sounds fine with me… Hey, what’s up with Erwin?”

 

Levi jumped at the sound of his name. Granted, Levi did spend most of his time spent on the computer with the Skype app open, messaging stupid things back and forth with the 21 year old. Recently, Levi had noticed that Erwin would mention him in the tags of posts. It was strange the first time he noticed. He’d been scrolling though Erwin’s page, and noticed that under a text post about having internet friends living too far away or something, sat a very singular, very noticeable, #levi. 

 

That was just the first time, too. Other things, possibly things that Erwin just wanted Levi to see, would also be marked as #levi. Levi, of course, didn’t bring it up. He wondered if he should start doing the same for Erwin. 

 

“Uh…” Levi started, running a hand over his face. Erwin was currently piecing together a Howl cosplay, hoping to have it ready for some convention in early December. He also had mentioned about how all his friends were having a big Thanksgiving dinner together, and that it was already snowing in Boston.

 

“Nothing really, just school stuff.” Levi answered, dismissively. 

 

Petra shot him a condescending look. “Oh, by the way, are we ever going to make Evangelion costumes?”

 

Levi sighed, “I’m not cosplaying Shinji, Petra.”

 

“But, Levi, you’d look so cu-“

 

“No.” 

 

Petra sighed and pulled out her phone, checking the time. Their classes started at 10 on wednesdays, meaning that they had time to grab breakfast before school started. Levi had noted that French high schools were similar to American Universities, at least from what Erwin would tell him. Levi and Petra’s Wednesday schedule was pretty simple, started blissfully late and ended mercifully early. 

 

Levi and Petra’s high school specialized in the arts. Petra was there for photography and dance, while Levi was enrolled for drawing and design. They still took basic classes like history and math, but had a heavier focus on the artistic elements. Most high schools in the area were geared towards getting you ready for college or a career. Wednesdays were mainly all arts classes, with only one literature class. The two of them walked into a small bakery, just outside of school. Levi ordered an espresso, while Petra opted for hot chocolate. 

 

Petra found a small table by the window for them to sit at, and used her spoon to scrape off some whipped cream from the top and into her mouth. Levi sat across from her, sipping the scalding coffee quietly. 

 

“So, did you look at any of the panels on the website?” Petra asked him, licking the spoon clean.

 

Levi glanced up. “Yeah, I saw a few I might want to check out. There’s gonna be a lolita fashion panel, so I figured you’d be interested in that one.”

 

Petra hummed happily, flipping through her phone. Levi finished off the last dregs of his coffee and sighed, glancing out the window and up at the grey, speckled sky.

* * *

 

 

Erwin sighed, flipping over in bed. He rested his cheek against his pillow, feeling his body heat radiating off of his sheets. He turned on his phone, squinting in the bright, LED light that shone back. 3:35 am. 

 

Erwin sank back against the pillows, glancing up through his sky light, watching the stars twinkle down, faint but reassuring. Erwin unlocked his phone, going to his world clock. He smiled, seeing that it was 9:36 am in Paris at the moment. 

 

_Good morning, Levi._ He thought, finally letting himself slip off to sleep.


	5. Gross boys and Anime Conventions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for the first day of Paris Manga & Sci-Fi show!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this update isn't 3 months late i swear it's not... omg i'm so sorry it's taken me this long to update. i quote my own fanfic when i say that "school is finally starting to kick my ass."

The clock in Levi’s classroom was ticking unbearably slow, his pen tapping repeatedly against his desk. 3:28… 3:29…

 

Today was finally the long awaited date of November 7th. He had stayed up all last night, giddily tossing and turning under his sheets, phone in hand as he scrolled through the PMSF tag on tumblr, looking through all the posts of people wallowing in equal amounts of excitement and hype for the following weekend. He messaged Hange on Skype too, asking them about their commute up to the con. Hange lived further south, closer to Orleans than Paris. 

 

They would be taking a train up to the convention center, and they had been texting Levi for the past hour, bragging about they had left school early. Levi could see the back of Petra’s head from where she sat in the class directly across the hall. In his unbearably silent study hall, a boy in the back was suffering from an obvious cold, and Levi cringed each time he heard the kid snuffle his noise with a loud, wet sound. 

 

The final bell finally sounded off, and Levi sprang up from his rickety desk chair with much more enthusiasm that usual and slung his messenger back across his shoulder, feeling the leather bag bump against his hips a few times with the weight of multiple text books. He crossed the hall, dodging several people as he made his way to Petra’s class. 

 

She was still gathering her things, back turned to the door. She had her hair up in a high bun, secured with an adorable sea-green bow clip. Levi had off-handedly complimented her about it this morning on their walk to school.  

 

Petra finally had all her things collected, and she turned to face the door. Levi was waiting, arms folded as he shot her a condescending look. He waved at her in a dramatic flourish, trying to signal for her to _hurry the fuck up or so help me…_

 

Petra rolled her eyes right back and met him at the door, falling into step with him as they walked towards their lockers. Levi shot her a small smile, “Excited?”

Petra smiled widely back, clapping her hands a few times. “Fuck, yes! You have everything?”

Levi nodded, “Meet me at the North exit, okay? My mom’s driving us.”

 

Petra gave him a short nod and turned the corner, disappearing down the hallway, off to the lockers alphabetically ordered from M to Z. Levi headed down the crowded staircase, elbowing his way past a slow-walking group of freshmen. He slotted his textbooks into their proper place inside his meticulously organized locker, and wiped away the week’s worth of memos from his magnetic dry-erase board. From the blessing of today’s double study hall, he’d finished all of his weekend homework. 

 

He pulled on his forrest-green jacket, and slung his practically empty bag over his shoulder. Most people were standing around at their lockers, chatting with friends. Levi jumped at the sound of his name being called. 

 

Levi looked over his shoulder, seeing who had yelled out for him. With an exasperated sigh, he slammed his locker shut and turned to face him. Aurou, an arrogant, soccer playing, chess-team idiot, was heading over his way. Levi already knew what this was going to be about. 

 

“Levi,” Aurou said again, falling into step with the upperclassman. Levi was walking with short, clipped steps, trying to escape the overzealous second year. “Did you ever…”

 

Levi shot the kid (who was taller than him yet had the maturity of a 5th grader on steriods) an unamused look. “Spit it out.”

 

Aurou shoved his hands in his pockets, slowing his gait and falling out of stride with Levi. He swallowed and glanced around the hall, cheeks tinting pink. Levi glanced back at him and kept walking.

 

“Hold on!” Aurou said, catching up. “Uh… Is… Is Petra… Is she seeing anyone?”

 

Levi bit back a chuckle. Instead, he kept his face a monotone mask of indifference. “No. She also isn’t interested.” Levi kept walking, leaving the kid in a stunned silence as he walked on. 

 

Petra was standing in the commons, talking with a few girls from homeroom. She glanced up as she saw Levi heading her way, eyes bright with excitement but mouth controlled in a firm line. She smiled at him, turned to say goodbye to her friends, and followed him out into the school’s entrance.

 

Levi was practically giddy, a bounce in his step and a flush of color in his cheeks. He spotted his mom’s car in the line of others. He turned to Petra and offered a lift of the corners of his mouth. “Ready?”

 

Petra nodded, “Yep!”

 

Levi’s smile expanded, to Petra’s disbelief. “Let’s go.”

 

——

 

It rained on the drive into Paris. The rain splattered down from the milky overcast sky and landed in fat drops on the window. Levi watched them slide down, mentally racing the raindrops to try and see which one would reach the bottom on the glass first. The suburbs melted into the city, and in the gray afternoon, lights from traffic and storefronts bled together in the dreary shower. Levi didn’t mind weather like this- he loved it actually. There was a peaceful comfort he felt as he sat in the warmth of the car, safe from the cold rain. He watched as a few pedestrians with out umbrellas darted under awnings or into bus stops. 

 

Petra sat in the backseat, knees bouncing as she tried to contain her happiness. The radio was playing softly, white noise that either of them paid attention to. Mrs. Ackerman was chatting into her bluetooth in French, a language that Petra still subconsciously tuned out even though she was a seasoned speaker. 

 

Levi’s eyes instantly found the convention center, and their hotel right across the street. Sabine pulled into a small parking garage around the corner. She turned her head and looked at Levi, who was already unbuckling his seatbelt as she pulled the keys out of the ignition. Levi glanced up, sterling eyes shining. 

 

“What is it, maman?” He asked her, and watched as she fondly shook her head, shooting him a small smile.

 

Their hotel was nothing luxurious, but it was quite nice. It was modern, with all white interior and accents of silver and black in the art and pillows. Levi and Petra had gotten separate rooms, across the hall from one another. They’d been friends long enough for their parents to trust that neither of them would be trying to do anything, but it made it awkward between the two to even think about it.

 

Sabine helped unload the luggage, and soon they were settled in their individual rooms. Sabine kissed Levi on the forehead before she left, telling him to call her if he needed her. She was spending the weekend in the city, after all. 

 

Levi grinned at Petra after his mother had disappeared down the hall. “See you in an hour, Asuna.” He said, laughing before heading into his room, eagerly ripping open the lid of his tupperware box, which was carrying most of his props and hot glue gun. He took his time, despite uncontrollable impatience, getting into costume. After was dressed, he headed into the bathroom. In the mirror, he carefully inserted his grey circle lenses. Using a light hand to dab on foundation, he covered his entire face. He used a dark eyeliner pencil to line around his eyes, extending the corners slightly. He contoured his cheekbones with bronzer Petra had given him, and stepped back to take it in. Lastly, his covered his hair with a cap and pulled his dark wig into place. Petra argued that he didn't really need a wig for this costume, but it felt unfinished without one.

 

Levi grabbed his sword and stood in front of the mirror, inspecting his costume. He’d tested it all out Wednesday night, and was more than confident in how he looked in his costume. There was a knock at the door, which he knew was Petra. He unlocked the door and yelled out for her to come in, before retreating to the mirror.

 

Petra looked amazing in costume, the spitting image of Asuna, Levi noted. She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re worse than I am.” She said, watching him preen in the mirror. “We gotta go. It’s 6:30, Mr. Schedule Master.”

 

“Okay, okay. Hold on, get in a picture with me.” Levi held out his phone, snapchat open. 

 

Petra squeezed her head in next to his and stuck out her tongue, Levi flashed a ghost of a smile and quickly snapped the picture. She peeled away and smoother out her wig in the mirror. 

 

“Who’re you sending it to?” Petra asked, glancing over her shoulder.

 

Levi blushed and glanced up at her. “Erwin.” 

 

Petra giggled, “Ohh, right, Captain America.” She laughed at her own pun, laughing harder at Levi’s dead-eyed expression. “How is he, anyways?”

 

Levi shrugged. “He seems good. Says that classes are hard, he joined some French speaking club there.” 

 

“Oooh la la~” Petra mooned, grabbing her drawstring gym bag, stuffed full of money and bandaids. “Let’s go, loverboy.”

 

As they crossed the street, Levi could see other cosplayers rounding street corners and entering the convention center. His stomach filled with flocks of butterflies and possibly small birds. The closer they got to the front doors, the more he could feel the months of suppressed excitement and giddiness begin to build up in his chest. 

 

Petra shot him a crinkly-eyed smile, basking in the same amount of excitement. The doors to the massive building opened, and they surged in. All around him, people in colorful cosplays and outfits swarmed about in lines and groups, posing for photos or simply talking. 

 

Levi was home again.


	6. Erwin's kinda smitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a day in the life of resident hot-nerd, erwin smith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhh man oh man SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN FOREVER... i havent given up on this story im just lazy and i procrastinate.. anyways, here's a short lil update on erwin's side of the story. it's gonna start picking up soon, i promise!!

Across the Atlantic, Erwin was just waking up to a snowy november morning. The sky was dull and grey in a numb, placid display of wavy clouds that were held up in the atmosphere by cold temperatures. He glanced at his alarm, groaning. Class didn’t start for three hours, but he had CrossFit in thirty minutes. It was Friday, and he usually he and Mike grabbed coffee at the weird new-agey cafe on campus and went to meet up with their training group.

 

But today, a soy latte that tasted vaguely of sand and hauling kettle balls half his body weight in each hand wasn’t as appealing as usual. Still, winter conventions were coming up after the holidays, and he knew he had to stay in shape for a few of his League costumes. Which reminded him, Levi was at his convention today. 

 

Groggily, he smacked his hand onto the empty side of the bed next to him, fingers curling around his phone. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and pressed the home button, seeing a few emails, a FitBit nofitication, and then a snapchat from Levi. His stomach tingled a little bit in excitement as he unlocked his phone and the yellow loading screen of snapchat appeared. 

 

Erwin impatiently let Levi’s snap load, and he eagerly help down the little red square. A smile bloomed across his face as Levi’s tired eyes and lopsided smile appeared on screen. He was in full cosplay, eyes lined with clean liner and costume perfectly tailored. Erwin swallowed, the 10 seconds finally expiring and the picture escaped him.

 

He really wanted to screenshot it, but that would’ve been weird of him. Levi would think he had some kind of crush..

 

_Which you do,_ Erwin reminded himself. He ran a hand over his face. 

 

Maybe he did have a crush on Levi, maybe he’d been harboring small butterflies for the past few weeks, maybe he dreamed about getting to meet him and hug his tiny frame one day. 

 

_One day_ …

 

But today, Erwin needed to get out of bed. After typing and retyping a quick “you look great!! have fun!” message to Levi, he hauled himself out of bed, hastily making up the sheets before ambling into his adjoining bathroom. 

 

He needed to shave just a bit, but that could wait. After popping in his contacts and splashing his face with cold water, he grabbed his toothbrush and proceeded to brush his teeth as he walked into the kitchen. 

 

His small, apartment was well lit, with big windows lining the kitchen and living area. His parents had helped him pay for it, which he felt eternally guilty for, but it was a nice gesture that he couldn’t take for granted. He held the toothbrush between his lips as he went about making breakfast, which consisted of a protein shake and egg whites with kale. 

 

He jogged back to the bathroom to rinse and set down his toothbrush. Back in the kitchen, he heard his phone’s notification tone go off.

 

Erwin sighed, grabbing a fork for his eggs in the kitchen before grabbing his phone. It was from Mike, telling him that he was running late and to just meet him at the gym today. Erwin shrugged to himself, eating his eggs slowly, going through some emails and then his tumblr. 

 

He answered a few asks regarding his cosplays, and finally finished getting ready for the day. His walk to the 24 hour gym was brisk, yet pleasant. His thick peacoat looked out of place over his long sweatpants and athletic sneakers, and he prayed he didn’t see anyone as he walked.

 

Mike was in the gym already, signing in. He’d been growing out his already shaggy hair, and it was tied in a small “man-bun” at the nape of his neck. Erwin chuckled at that, opening the door and stepping into the small, mirror-lined front room. Mike turned and waved at his friend, hoisting his gym bag higher on his shoulder.

 

“Yo, Erwin.” He said, nonchalantly. “You gotta see the work out plan for today. I’m pretty sure we’re both dead.” 

 

Erwin laughed, signing himself in. On the white-board behind the front desk was today’s CrossFit line up, which seemed to focus heavily on cardio and full-body strength training. 

 

Erwin grimaced at Mike, “I’m still sore from Wednesday’s.”

 

Mike smacked Erwin’s shoulder, then headed towards the locker room. “Standing around’s not gonna make it any easier.”

* * *

 

After finishing the last repetition of burpee’s, Erwin lay sprawled out on his mat, practically melting away. His body burned with the satisfying sting of a good work out, but his legs were still regaining strength. He took ten seconds to breathe, Mike laughing tiredly from a similar position on his mat next to Erwin’s. 

 

Erwin pushed up into a sitting position, groaning as his right shoulder resisted the movement. “Damn, if I have to go back to physical therapy…”

 

Mike wiped the sweat on his face away with the hem of his loose-fitting tanktop. “Shoulder?”

 

Erwin nodded and rotated his arm around, feeling his shoulder pop in a sort of painful release. “Ahh, it should be fine though.”

 

Back in the locker room, after a quick shower, Erwin meticulously inspected his progress in the mirror. His obliques were coming in quite nicely, if he did say so himself. He was shirtless, in nothing but his athletic shorts, and although it made him feel like a tremendous tool, he started taking mirror pics. 

 

He sat on the bench and started going through them, deeming them post-able. Mike was creeping up behind him, and evidently snatched the phone away. “Are these going on your blog?” He asked, a teasing lilt in his voice.

 

Erwin frowned at Mike, “Yes, not that its any of your business.”

 

Mike smiled widely now, more sincere, “They look good.” He scrolled to the previous one, and then the one before that, and then…

 

“Who’s this?” Mike asked, turning the phone back to Erwin. 

 

Erwin froze. It was a selfie that Levi had posted and had been too cute to _not_ save. Erwin stuttered out a “U-uhm.. a friend from online.”

 

Mike smirked. “He’s cute. What’s his name?”

 

Erwin took the phone from Mike’s open palm and flushed, “Levi.”

 

Mike nodded, “You like him.” It wasn’t even a question. 

 

“That’s…” Erwin started, trailing off, seeing Mike’s smug smile, “Mike, Shut up.” 

 

Mike burst out laughing, “I was right!”

 

Back at home, Erwin posted the pictures he’d taken at the gym. As he went through the notes, which had reached a modest 154 notes, he saw that Levi had reblogged them, commenting a simple “ _WHAT THE FUCK ERWIN_ ” that made Erwin smile brightly down at his phone.  Erwin soon had a skype notification from him.

 

Levi: who do u think u are honestly 

Levi: petra thinks ur hot btw

 

Erwin typed quickly back.

 

Erwin: and you don’t??

 

He bit his lip, hoping that he wasn’t coming off too cocky. 

 

Levi: …………..

Levi: I never said that 

 

Erwin set his phone down, covering his face with his hands and sighing, smiling giddily like a grade-schooler. He was in deep, to say the least. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw my tumblr is matosua.tumblr.com !! if you make any fanart or anything for this fic (which i would love to see, the fanarts ive seen so far have been great!) please tag is as #eruri can see the stars, or #eruri tumblr au


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